Prey

Rating:
Summary: A Great Start, but ...
Review: ... ultimately a disappointment. When I started reading it, I couldn't put it down for an hour or so. I empathized with the narrator, and couldn't wait to see where the plot was going, and for Crichton's grand ideas. (Albeit sometimes strangely uninformed ideas - or perhaps, more likely, plot-useful fictions, e.g. the charming but scientifically hollow notion that apes can acquire language a la "Congo" (see "The Creation Hypothesis" for a succinct, devastating analysis of ape language research); dinosaurs "evolving" useful survival traits; etc.) No matter how shaky the science behind them - and some of the science has been very shaky - his ideas are always interesting; "Timeline" was chockful of fascinating ruminations, and I expected no less here.

Suddenly it was over.

The story is short and very localized, centering on half a dozen throwaway characters. The threat starts out as seeingly insurmountable, then becomes somewhat silly in its progress. I was reminded of "Mount Dragon," but seemingly shorter, hurried, and smaller - a "Mount Dragon" Lite. Before you know it, it's over, and you're looking at the cover binding to see if some 100-odd pages have been removed.

Some technical terminology (the obligatory "fractals", for one) is tossed in, but doesn't really go anywhere useful. There are a couple of huge plot holes which allow the threat into the wild. The scenario supposes a level of nano-engineering that is quite fantastical, but which, like "Congo's" talking gorilla, would be forgiveable if the story were more meaty.

I wouldn't even buy this one in paperback. Used even.

Rating:
Summary: Prey are elephants, when you're Godzilla
Review: Oh boy! You can imagine my excitement when I finally purchased a copy of "Prey" -- the book that the local chapter of Hopeful Homosexuals of Guatemala has titled "...a true coming out of the closet novel for both the protagonist and the villain."

The daisy chain formed by Cross, Cooper, and Samson is top-notch, and the fur really flew when Patterson decided to throw in a few mice into the mix. WOW!

But despite all this excitement, something was missing...something that I'm sure all readers of "Four Blind Mice" was left asking: did each mouse know that there were three others, and hence he was not special? Maybe this question is best left unanswered, but I for one would've given it the fifth star if Patterson tied this knot.

Rating:
Summary: Not his best, but George Bush would enjoy it
Review: And that's not to say the President can only handle these types of books. I mean hey, some people would be surprised if he were this advanced. Personally, I think he's a Tom Clancy kind of guy, and given that he has the power to make those plots into reality, I don't blame him.

Me? Well, I prefer lounging in front of some more solid fare. Take Mr Willy's House of Pancakes for instance. In that book, Mr. Willy decides to sell the House of Pancakes to a major developer.

If that's not what you're after, then maybe you should just compromise and read Prey. Now, strictly speaking, it's not a novel because a novel is a book written by authors who are writing for their own personal enjoyment, in the small hope others may enjoy their work. Mike stopped doing that before he started writing.

That makes this drivel.

Speaking of drivel, how many of you have been to Toronto recently? I know it's not the world's most exciting city, but few people realize that it the fourth largest city in North America. Bigger then Chicago. Plus, I live here. And dude, that says something where I come from.

So seriously, you're welcome to stay with me. I could show you around, and if you like the place, heck, come and live here. Of course, you'll have to put up with insufferable Canadians who are about as arrogant as they are small minded, but that's OK, they're also meek and easily side-lined.

At the end of the day though dude, it's all about ganja and relaxing enough to realize that the little things in life take up too much of our time. Words to live by man.

Rating:
Summary: A Familiar theme for Crichton...
Review: This most recent novel by Michael Crichton is another deep expression of concern about the misuse of science and technology by future-blind, irresponsible scientists and corporations bent only on the 'bottom-line'; and as a result, blind as to the dire consequences of their actions. As he writes in the introduction, '...our self-deluded recklessness will collide with our growing technological power.' In fact, this has been Crichton's pre-occupation for over twenty-five years, beginning with one of his first novels, 'The Terminal Man.' His most successfiul novel to date, 'Jurassic Park', expressed this concern in no uncertain terms - genetics gone terribly wrong - in this case, however, nature retaliates in the form of dangerous dinosaurs. In ~Prey~ the new villian takes the form of self-reproducing machines - nanoparticles or micro-robots - a highly creative merging of nanotechnology, biotechnology and computer science.

What I personally enjoy about all Crichton's novels, is that you never come away from the reading experience without learning something. The man does immaculate research for each project and it shows. This novel is no different.

Crichton fans will not be disappointed with this novel because it reads at a cracking pace, maintaining tension until the last page.

~Prey~ is a highly informative and entertaining read.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutlely gripping
Review: Being a long time crichton fan, I have been waiting for a new novel by him for some time. I wasn't disappointed. Prey is a high paced ride to the end. I just couldn't put the book down. I had to find out what happened next. I guess the only thing that i would complain about is the ending leaves a little to be desired. But, I guess it is better this way, because true to the content, the story really doesn't end there. Someone else is bound to pick up and carry on the stupidity. Other then that small wrinkle. I still give this book a full five stars. A must read, hope the movie will do it justice.

Rating:
Summary: If I had only...
Review: "Vancouver is lovely. There is no other word for it. High, snow-capped mountains dominate the town, and the land-locked, green-shored bay with its pellucid waters makes a wonderful setting. The town itself is very American in appearance with its high buildings. Here also there can be no great expansion until Western Canada is more populous, but sooner or later Vancouver will certainly be another San Francisco."

-- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1923
British author of "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes"

Rating:
Summary: rehash-retread
Review: I waited for the release of this book with such anticipation and was so let down. There wasn't an iota of originality and no cutitng edge sci fi tale told. This was the most disappointing read of my life and it is from an author that I've loved all my life so that made it worse. I ended up reading my sister's new favorite book Cloned Love.

Rating:
Summary: Great start, but then - WHAT???
Review: I rated this book relative to the author's genre and previous books. I generally enjoy Crichton's prose - by no means great lit, but well structured and fun to read. The book, narrated by the central character, develops an amazing sense of dread. While Jurassic Park, for example, is a much much better book, the sense of foreboding and suspense in Prey is much more intense. The villain is, as usual, man's own folly, and the personification of this is microscopic.
Unfortunately, these tiny robots don't stay microscopic. What could have been (and is for the first half of the book) an intense human thriller, degrades into a bad Hollywood action script, with the nanobots "swarming" to form visible clouds.
The swarms, however, are still very Crichton and pretty neat stuff. The sequences with them are scary and suspenseful - a read till 2am series of events. But then everything falls apart.
I will not "spoil" the end, but suffice it to say that it is unbelievably silly (emphasis on unbelievable). I love Crichton because he can convince me to believe things that are impossible. He fails in Prey. Not only is the finale dumb, but it leaves huge holes in the plot unresolved. While Crichton is by no means a Steinbeck-like character writing, you are also left feeling completely perplexed at the interactions between the characters and the emotional reactions they have. Great personal loss is treat blasé and is marginally offensive. I did not give a lower rating only becasue I enjoyed the first half of the book quite a lot. In the end, you are left with the feeling that Crichton wrote this as an excuse to make another movie, and what began as one of his best ended up along side Sphere as one of his silliest.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I have always enjoyed Michael Crichton's work but this was a complete disapointment. The book reads like a B Zombie movie. It follows an obvious plot line (heroes trapped in isolated outpost and faced with horrible monsters) and doesn't even try to hide this fact. It creates the situation using comepletly unbelievable circumstances. The story was predictable, the character's shallow and the science forced. Too bad.

Rating:
Summary: Nanoscare
Review: Red Herring chose a nanotech backlash as a trend for 2003, and mentioned Prey. It was compared to Jurassic Park and its impact on biology. I would read the Foresight guidelines on nanotech safety, and David Forrest's initial guidlines, written in 1988.
Good read, but consider the upside.